Summary of Responses: What to call a guide to an SDK

[Peter Kelly <Peter_Kelly -at- baan -dot- com>]

Thanks to all who sent suggestions on what to call a guide shipped with a
software developer's kit. 

Quite a few people rightly pointed out that the documentation accompanying
an SDK is part of the SDK and not the SDK itself, which is made up of the
documentation plus software components. 

For Tom Murrell, yes the wording of my question was a bit confusing--mea
culpa. I am not advocating that documentation be done away with for an
SDK--the one I am documenting is far from *intuitive*. I was trying to say
that the only indication of how to use the SDK can come from the
documentation that accompanies the SDK since the SDK is a collection of
software components with no user interface, so why not call the doc "SDK."
But the responses I received from the good people on this list have shown
that developers most have come across do expect the documentation
accompanying an SDK to be called something other than SDK.

Here is what tech whirlers have proposed. Numbers after the title proposed
indicate the number of people who proposed that title. 

SDK Guide 1 

SDK User Guide 1 

Programmer's Guide to the SDK 2

SDK User's Guide 2 (one writer said that this is the name their customers
prefer)

SDK User's Manual 1

SDK Guide (the writer who submitted this said that 7 developers unanimously
chose this title)

SDK Desktop Reference 1

SDK Reference 1

SDK Supplement 1

Software Developer's Manual 1

	Cheers to all

	______________________________________
	                                                  
	Peter Kelly

	Technical Writer
> BaaN  
	http://www.baan.com	
	* Peter_Kelly -at- baan -dot- com